RWBY - Team NAME
by Darkpenn
Summary: Neo, Adam, Mercury and Emerald could be a formidable team – if they had a leader.


**Team NAME**

 _Neo, Adam, Mercury and Emerald could be a formidable team – if they had a leader._

[Author's Note: This story follows the 'teaser' at the end of the story collection _Volume 6 – Fighting Back_ (and at the end of the story _RWBY 6 11 –_ _Aftermath_ ).]

Mercury looked at the four drinks on the table. "Why do I get the feeling," he said as he, Emerald and Adam sat down, "that you have been waiting for us to arrive?"

Neo smiled her 'that's my secret' smile.

They were in a seedy bar in Vale, the area where Emerald had spent her years as a petty criminal before being recruited by Cinder, and where the portal stone from Cinder's castle had delivered them.

"Well, one way or another it's a good thing we ran into you, because we don't even have lien for a drink," said Emerald.

Neo pulled a wad of bills from her pocket and put it onto the table. She divided it into four and gave them each a part, and took one herself.

"Does this mean we're a team?" said Adam. "Is that what you want?"

Neo shrugged, and smiled.

"If we're a team, we're one without a leader," said Emerald. "We all have our skills, but let's face it, none of us are much good on the scheming side. And Hazel would have gone down to Salem. Neo, I heard that Roman didn't survive the Battle of Beacon, and I'm sorry about that. I know the two of you were ... close."

Neo nodded sadly.

"So we have no idea what to do next, no plan, no agenda, nothing, and we're probably being hunted by the cops as well," said Mercury.

"Hey, I have an agenda," said Adam.

The others stared at him. Everyone knew the reality: his attempt to organise a faunus revolution had failed, his allies had abandoned him or had themselves fallen, and his reputation was now one of defeat, of double-crossing ... and of running away.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he muttered.

"Huh, look at that," said Mercury, pointing at the newscreen above the bar. Lisa Lavender was presenting a story about how the Grimm dragon and all the other Grimm creatures infesting Beacon Academy had been destroyed.

Lavender was saying: " ... it is not clear who defeated the dragon but there is talk of a group of four young women, presumably very powerful Hunters, being responsible. But so far none of them has come forward, and all attempts to contact any other Hunters for media comment have been unsuccessful ... "

"Huh," said Adam. "They actually did it."

"This makes it even more imperative that we find Cinder," said Emerald. "Hazel was pretty sure she is alive. Maybe she's injured, maybe she needs help. We really have no idea what happened in the Haven vault."

"Hmm," said Mercury. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way. Maybe we should be thinking about ... how she might find us."

Neo nodded. Then she smiled her 'I have an idea' smile. She punched a few buttons on her scroll, and in a few seconds an image came up.

The Vale branch of the Schnee Finance Corporation.

* * *

Emerald and Mercury walked into the foyer of the SFC. Emerald drew her guns and fired twin bursts into the ceiling, making customers run for cover.

"Yes, this is a robbery," said Mercury. "Now, who's got the money?"

Slowly, one of the cashiers put up her hand. Emerald and Mercury walked over to her. "How much have you got there?" he said to her, pointing to the drawer of cash.

"Uh, I guess about forty thousand lien," she said.

"Okay, we'll take, hmm, let me think, about twenty thousand, that should do it."

"You ... you mean, you don't want all of it?"

"No, twenty is fine. Say, you wouldn't have a bag or something, would you?"

The woman began to count money into a bag with Schnee Finance Corporation on the side.

"Do you have any surveillance cameras here?" said Emerald to the cashier.

"Yes, there's one right over the door, where you came in."

"Oh right, thanks, I see it now." She walked over to the camera and looked up at it, so it could get a good picture of her face. Then she turned sideways for a profile shot.

Mercury joined her with the bag of cash. "Okay, let's be on our way," he said. They walked outside ... and saw two police cars, one at each end of the street. There were cops with guns drawn.

"Huh, that was pretty fast," said Emerald.

From further along the street there was the honk of a horn. A massive truck, with Schnee Transport written on it, was barrelling along. It smashed into one of the police cars, knocking it aside. Then it smashed into the other, sending the cops running. The truck came to a halt ... and then slowly reversed back to Emerald and Mercury, making that beeping sound. The cab door opened.

"Get in," said Adam.

"You think you could have stolen something bigger as a getaway vehicle?" said Mercury, as they climbed up.

"I don't think subtle is Neo's style," said Adam.

Indeed. Neo, in the driving seat, sounded the horn again. Then she put the truck into gear and they were off. For good measure, she whacked one of the police cars again on the way.

"You know, for someone who doesn't say much you can be very expressive," said Emerald.

Neo smiled.

* * *

Sienna was wandering through part of Mistral when she saw the news article on a screen in a store – and the face of a girl with green hair and dark skin. She ran in.

" ... it was a strange sort of robbery," a police spokesperson was saying. "It was almost as if they were trying to attract attention rather than steal a lot of money. And one of them, this woman, stood in right in front of a camera, almost as if she was posing. It was all very odd, even by the standards of recent events in Vale ... "

Sienna touched the image. Bits and pieces of memory began to drift back to her. The young woman, her name was ... Em ... Em ... Emerald, yes, that was it. And the names and faces of other people came back as well. Mercury. Salem. Ozpin. And the woman with black hair ... her name was Raven. She was an enemy. They had fought, the two of them. In a place with a golden door.

She could feel her veins beginning to pulse with energy. She held up her hand: there was a flicker of flame there.

But there were huge gaps in her memory, and nothing was really clear.

"Hey lady," said the storekeeper. "You going to buy something or what?"

"My name," she said softly, "is Cinder. And I need to get to Vale. So ... give me all your money."

* * *

They used some of their ill-gotten gains to take a couple of rooms in a guest-house where the manager did not ask too many questions.

Mercury and Adam were in one room. For a long time, they merely sat in chairs, each turning over their thoughts.

"You know what I hate about all this?" said Adam at last.

"Everything?" suggested Mercury.

"No. Well, yes. But most of all, I hate that ... she beat me. At Haven."

"You mean the cat faunus of Team RWBY? Your one-time squeeze?"

"Blake. Her name is Blake. I trained her to fight, we did missions together, we were going to lead the revolution. And at the Battle of Beacon I beat her like a drum, and even cut her friend's arm off, just to spite her. And then at Haven ... it wasn't even a fight. She used her shadow clone power and I fell for it. And then ... one punch. She put me on the ground with one punch."

"Yeah, that's pretty pathetic, all right," said Mercury.

Adam nodded.

"I guess we're all a bit that way," said Mercury. "Neo had her heart ripped out when Roman went down, and I think she's just been wandering around looking for someone to tell her what to do. Emerald is the same, talking about finding Cinder all the time."

"Is that a sex thing?" said Adam. "Cinder has a certain charisma, even with the arm and the eye gone."

"Yes she does, although I think with Emerald it's more of a mother-figure deal. But she's right. We need a leader. Otherwise we'll just drift back to low-level crime stuff. And probably end up turning on each other, eventually."

They climbed into their beds, and were both quiet for a while.

Then Adam said: "Please don't tell the girls. About me getting beat by Blake so easily."

Mercury laughed. " 'The girls'," he said. "You called them that. I guess ... that means we're a team, despite not liking each other and having nothing in common."

"I guess it does," said Adam.

" 'The girls'," chuckled Mercury again, as he fell asleep.

At that moment, 'the girls' were in their beds in the other room.

"I know how you did that thing with the drinks, you know," said Emerald. "I talked to the guy behind the bar. He said you came in pretty often and ordered four drinks, and eventually drank them all, and then ordered another four. Sounds like someone who is drinking more than is good for them."

Neo said nothing.

"You really miss him, don't you?" said Emerald.

There was a long silence. Then, in the darkness, there was a sound like a little sob.

"Yeah, I know," said Emerald softly. "I know."

* * *

"You call that a disguise?" said Mercury.

"No," said Emerald. "I call it a new outfit. At least it's better than your attempt. Dying your hair ultra-blond. You look like a wannabe Schnee."

They stared at each other in the mirror of the guest-house room. Since they were now wanted criminals they had decided to change their look. Which had involved, in Emerald's case, a dark-blue overcoat and a pair of black leggings, and in Mercury's case, a new hair colour – and a white overcoat.

"You know," said Adam, "you guys are really bad at this."

"Hey, I dyed my hair too," said Emerald.

"Yes, but the same colour as before," said Adam. "I feel you have misunderstood the basic concepts of being on the run."

"While you, Bull-boy, have not done a thing," said Mercury to Adam.

Adam considered. Then he removed his Grimm mask. He took off his coat, reversed it, and put it back on. It was a striking silver-grey. Yes, totally new look.

Emerald gave a little gasp. "I ... I suppose that some people might say ... that you are not unattractive," she said.

"Why do you think I wear the mask?" he said. "It's hard to lead an organisation dedicated to violent revolution when half the members are constantly hitting on you."

Neo gave a little snicker. She had made a point of changing absolutely nothing.

"I sort of expected you to have antlers or pointy ears or something," said Mercury to Adam.

Adam shrugged. "The cops are actually a second-order threat," he said. "The real worry is that Salem will find us. I doubt that she is one to forgive and forget, and she will not be fooled by some new clothes."

"We have this," said Emerald, taking the portal stone from her pocket. "I have no idea how it works but judging from what Hazel said I think there is only a limited number of times you can use it. But it might get us out of a tight spot if needed."

"Why didn't you take more than one?" said Mercury to Adam.

 _I did_ , thought Adam, feeling the weight of the other stone in his pocket. But he said: "As you will recall, things were a bit on the chaotic side. What with an enormously powerful witch trying to kill us and take our souls. By the way, Emerald, that illusion of Team RWBY was a good idea."

"And now we know that Salem is scared of something," said Mercury. "Could be useful."

"Very possibly," said a voice at the door.

Cinder.

END (to be continued)


End file.
